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Saxbabe

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  1. So terribly sad right now. Several favorite scores from my childhood came from him..and I feel there were many more left...now to be unwritten. Just an awful, awful feeling to read this news. RIP James...the work you left us is a treasure. I was (and am still) looking forward so much to hearing this in the spring - I think he would have attended.. March 31, April 2, 3, 2016 Houston Symphony Michael Francis, conductor David Pyatt, horn Charles Watkins, horn William VerMeulen, horn Robert Johnson, horn Korngold: The Sea Hawk James Horner: Concerto for Four Horns and Orchestra, North American Premiere, Co- Commission of the Houston Symphony and the International Horn Society Rachmaninoff: Symphonic Dances Don’t miss an exciting North American Premiere as celebrated film composer James Horner (Titanic,Avatar) unveils his new Concerto for Four Horns, performed by soloists including the Houston Symphony’s own William VerMeulen and Robert Johnson. Also on the program is swashbuckling film music from the Golden Age of Hollywood’s greatest composer, Erich Wolfgang Korngold, and the rhythmic vitality and dark melodies of Rachmaninoff’s final work, Symphonic Dances.
  2. Hi there! Just thought I would pass this on in case they play more JW!
  3. I was at this concert It was wonderful. JW was in great form that evening, so energetic! I've never been to a classical concert with such an atmosphere of excitement and anticipation, it was very special. I felt the performances in general were quite passionate, they had great chemistry, it was awesome to hear how the players really poured everything they had into it. By the end I think they were getting taxed though! I didn't have a problem with the Cello Concerto revision, perhaps a bit jarring being different but, I did like it a lot when hearing live. And a fun note about that Close Encounters - There was a BIRD flying around in the hall during it! Right over the players heads. I know JW had to have noticed it (the audience sure did, I heard a couple of gasps.) Poor bird was really startled on some of those loud passages! He finally found his way off to the side I guess, and was gone by second half thankfully. Anyway - so glad this was put on SymphonyCast! Finally going to listen tonight!
  4. Hi all, Watching CNN on my phone - great tribute to the Marathon survivors in Boston, they opened with a performance of Hymn to New England conducted by Keith Lockhart (I love this piece so much!) It is a mostly all-brass ensemble, from Boston Pops? Missed who performers were. They played some JW before the event too...heads up as more may be played it being in Boston! http://www.cnn.com/ Not sure where link to live stream is there.
  5. Hi everyone! So who is going tomorrow evening? I will be there! I only have a few other friends going, due to the ticket prices and sell-out. The program looks pretty good, aside from the pieces listed above are also: HPSS Suite, Lincoln Malice Toward None, ET Adventures On Earth I think I am most excited about CE3K and ET....always wanted to hear them live...Cello Concerto should be amazing too. We did subscribe this year and go often, look forward to hearing the orchestra with JW conducting!
  6. I just came home and turned on my computer, checked my email, and saw a note that the Houston Symphony's announcement of their 13-14 season was being webcast. Clicked on the link, and the second the video loaded, the first thing I saw was a big picture of John Williams and heard them saying that he is coming HIMSELF and conducting here and Yo-Yo Ma too (I think Cello Concerto) and they are also doing film scores and there will be a MEET & GREET afterward. O.M.G. I thought I had fallen into an alternate universe and had to pinch myself. Next year is the Symphony's 100th anniversary, so there are a lot of awesome things happening. Right after they announced the JW concert, was mention of a performance of Mahler 8 with Eschenbach, which they are building a special stage extension for. And apparently John Adams is coming as well to conduct his new piece CIty Noir. And also, they have just named a new conductor who looks a lot like Gustavo Dudamel of the LA Phil. This is all the info I know now on the JW concert, they don't even have the season brochure or concert listings up yet. Linkage: http://www.houstonsymphony.org The very second I hear you can buy tickets, I'm in! Who else is! I live here now (I work at the Museum of Natural Science), so I would also be up for organizing whatever get-together etc. we would like to do. Oh also - hello my beloved JWFan, yes I have been away too long, but I do lurk still! ~g
  7. Hi everyone!! Just saw Tintin couple days ago...really enjoyed it very much! Cute and fun flight of a tale, visually quite lovely indeed. Was very impressed with the look of the characters, especially Sakharine/Rackham I loved, the swagger and realism of his body language...though, I was amused that, to me Tintin's eyes reminded me curiously of Gollum sometimes - I actually didn't even know Weta animated this til the credits and I chuckled a bit. I purposely went in not spoilering myself or hearing any of the score (easy being so busy with the holidays), and found the whole movie and score all to work together really well. It came across as an expertly crafted little Spielberg project that gave us a good, old-fashioned rollicking adventure (which kids could also follow) and, gave JW a chance to stretch out, have fun, and get back to his jazz roots. I will post something about the music in the music thread, but was reminded in spots of so many different Williams scores, even back to his Amazing Stories work, perhaps due to the adventurey serial nature of the film (esp. the main theme, stated near the end of Pursuit of the Falcon)...also some Indy (esp. Scherzo for Motorcycle), Knight Bus, and other snippets, of PoA and of course Catch Me If You Can, although he also brings some very fresh fun material we haven't heard. The movie - I did see it in 3D, I liked it a lot, though I don't feel it's necessary at all to see in 3D to enjoy it. Parts like the floating dust, and other things, were done very well, other times I thought the 3D could have been shown off more. I thought the acting was wonderful, the characters could have had more, depth?, but not knowing anything of the original comics, perhaps it is true to them. I too wished almost it could have been longer and more fleshed out somehow, but for a young adult audience I think it works wonderfully. I was extremely impressed by the way shots were put together many, many times - in the flight where Haddock and Snowy are trying to drink from the floating bottle, the crashing masts and what-not on the fights between the ships, and bar none, the flight of the falcon and long continuous tracking - amazing!! I liked the movie a lot, and would love to see a sequel actually. This is really something quite different from Spielberg and it's a blast to watch him get his feet wet in animated movie-making. I felt the music mix was very up-front and in fact, sometimes found myself just kind of following the visuals along with my eyes while paying more attention to the great score (I was hearing it for the first time ). It reminded me of how so many movies just do NOT have this kind of scoring anymore, with so much richness, color, detail and seamless tie-in to the visuals, and so much presence - equal really. We saw it on an off-day matinee and there were at least 20 other people there, which seems to portend well - I think many people just really will see anything Spielberg though.
  8. Just got caught up with all the pictures and reviews....awww I miss you guys!!! Great, great stuff - wish I could have gone but we had a fundraiser event for work literally the same day. I bet the actual concert was spectacular! Saw this online as a heads up, if you guys are looking for something fun to go see this summer, I'm definitely going, should be quite good: The Planets - An HD Odyssey, Plus Star Wars Houston Symphony Brett W. Mitchell, conductor Jones Hall Houston, Texas Saturday, July 17, 2010, 7:30pm http://www.houstonsymphony.org/calendar/view.aspx?id=3384 actual progam: Williams - Star Wars: Main Title Williams - Excerpts from Close Encounters of the Third Kind Williams - E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial: "Adventures on Earth" Holst - The Planets — An HD Odyssey
  9. No SMNOL thread, I am disappointed. If it even still exists in this database.. If not, we might have to start a new one!
  10. Popping in here... Yeah, I heard that Desplat was composing at least the 1st part of the last movie...that makes me very happy indeed!! I remember the first time I ever heard of him, I was watching Girl With a Pearl Earring thinking, wow, who wrote this fantastic score. He should do a great job, wouldn't even mind him writing score for the last one, though of course would enjoy seeing JW back Uh...I still haven't seen HBP, I need to get around to that, was wholly unimpressed by the 5th film and score, so wasn't exactly waiting with baited breath to see the 6th. Guess I'll get around to it at some point here soon.
  11. I really enjoy every year hearing about all the Ubeda adventures here! More! I am so soooo JEALOUS too. These videos are just awesome. McNeely and Doyle rehearsing some of Doyle's Hamlet And some of Much Ado About Nothing McNeely's Tinker Bell suite The Giacchino clips are also great. Wow. Is the orchestra made up of university students, they all look fairly young?
  12. Thread bump! I may be going to see this tomorrow in Houston, hopefully... For those who have seen it, what was the breakdown as far as music from The Blue Planet/Deep Blue? I read somewhere that Fenton had worked up arrangements for the concerts...does anyone remember sort of what cues appear? Is it as one long piece or structured as several suites? And how long is it total? Is there an intermission? -Greta
  13. Just reminding you guys these are coming up soon! http://www.houstonsymphony.org/concert/summer.aspx BTW, for the Star Trek/Sci-Fi music concert they are having contests and such - one is a Name That Sci-Fi Tune contest, people can enter in teams of 3. Man, a set of JWFanners would surely be hard to beat in that ROFL!! more infos: http://www.houstonsymphony.org/concert/sum...ntestrules.aspx Looking at going to that one, Blue Planet Live for sure, and maybe the Dollar Concert w/ The Planets (although they are playing it in regular season next year as well Anyone else so far?
  14. IIRC, #23 & 24, the Drill Platform cues were big ones I was hoping would be on the CD, but I see they're not...bummer. They should have been. EDIT: Me and Jason posted almost the same thing at the same time. That is good music!
  15. Oh man. MAN!!! We freaking loved the film. Our showing was only half full, because there were at least 3 showings tonight at this theatre, and two at another across town. I did see someone with a Starfleet shirt, and people laughed and clapped and hung around and geeked out afterward so it was still kind of fun. Not to mention we had sushi and sake bombs beforehand... I don't want to go overboard with praise for it, but it's kind of hard not to right now. I echo most of what Joey, John Crichton and Charlie Brigden said...yes, it is really all about the characters and thank God for that! I felt they were spot on, believeable and loved the background we got on them. Uhura and Spock....come on how sexy is that?! Spock just owned the house...I really felt for him and thought the acting by Zach Quinto was great. What else...the movie was well paced, actually it sped by...it never seemed draggy. I thought the concept of the movie was very well done on all counts...the almost comical over-the-topness to everything - the bravado, the close shaves, the high emotions, the loud explosions/warps/punches, the brassy score - somehow it all works together, it all fits. The Enterprise is an absolute wonder to behold....many truly breathtaking shots that make it feel so real. And the Romulan ship is fierce! About the score: I like it, a lot. What I totally love - is it is "Giacchino", a la Roar/Cloverfield etc., it is easily recognized as his style which is a fact I appreciate. It is well written. Yes, it gets a bit repetitive (it does rely on basically one main theme which is quite simple), but it is good big full orchestral scoring that isn't afraid to make a statement. Again, I feel the score works in and with the film - it is brassy, direct and over the top. In fact, I was struck that it reminded me at times of David Arnold's Independence Day in style. I am curious to hear the CD, I am afraid some of the best stuff might've been left off reading what others have said. Because the last 20 min or so are quite good indeed, loved the End Credits. EDIT: Did anyone catch the Cloverfield reference?? When Kirk first sees Uhura
  16. I just watched the videos from the Austin screening. Wow, I would have totally freaked out if I had been there!! So I am P.O.'d there is not a proper midnight screening here. There is a 7 and 10 pm on Thursday. But that's not the same as the classic geekiness of the midnight thing! Meh.....so I'm not sure if I 'm going on that day or not, I'll have to see. I'm going to wait to hear the score in the film, since I read the OST had some problems with editing and such. I can't wait to see it!!
  17. So many GREAT ones listed already, ones I need to revisit. The Fabulous Baker Boys is a huge fav of mine - as far as the similar movie idea (band has auditions, forms, gets successful, has personal problems) - also check the movies/soundtracks for The Committments and Swing. Two very good UK films with great musical perfomances!! I don't think Mo' Better Blues has been mentioned yet...with Terence Blanchard and Branford Marsalis. If you like Latin jazz, you HAVE to MUST hear/see The Mambo Kings....with all-star big band featuring Arturo Sandoval, the music is hot and the movie is hotter! A beautiful tragic story. I also really like what Rolfe Kent put together for Sideways too - a nice listen away from film. (And BTW also uses Dan Higgins - the same sax player from Catch me If You Can.)
  18. Bernstein/NY Philharmonic Boulez/Vienna Philharmonic Chailly/Concertgebouw Orch Dohnanyi/Cleveland Orch Dutoit/Montreal Symphony Eschenbach/Houston Symphony Ormandy/Philadelphia Orch Rattle/CBSO Robertson/St. Louis Symphony Salonen/LA Philharmonic Slatkin/St. Louis Symphony Spano/Atlanta Symphony Williams/LSO and McNeely/RSNO too 8O
  19. Dates and Times: Music of Star Trek & More Sci-Fi Thursday, July 9, 7:30 p.m. Houston Chronicle Dollar Concert Mozart: Overture to The Magic Flute Holst: The Planets Sunday, July 12, 7:30 p.m. Gamer MusiCON 09 with Video Games Live™ & Blizzard Live! Saturday, July 18 Doors open at 2 p.m. The Blue Planet Live! Friday, July 24, 7:30 p.m. All at Jones Hall downtown.
  20. OMG OMG must take breath....Houston Symphony just put up their summer schedule and it includes Fenton's Blue Planet Live!! Yay!!! And the yearly Dollar Concert (every ticket is $1) this year features The Planets. For the cherry on top, there is a Music of Star Trek and Sci-Fi concert too with music from the original series, and also "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the Emmy® Award-winning music of Star Trek: Voyager, this year's Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, and 2001: Space Odyssey." All these concerts take place in mid/late July 8O EDIT: To John - yes they are having the Video Games Live concert again too.
  21. God. You guys are hilarious! And KM, for the record, I don't love you anymore... So. I didn't get a chance to go either, was hoping I would but didn't happen. But KUHF Houston Public Radio has been broadcasting every Houston Symphony concert this year, so I'm waiting for them to post when the broadcast is. I am estimating end of May/early June (the broadcasts are Wed. nights.) You can listen online but someone needs to record the high-quality FM or hopefully digital broadcast - I am a bit too far away from H-town to do it. (Hello mattmane lol!) You can keep an eye on their broadcast schedule here: http://app1.kuhf.org/houston_public_radio-...s_id=1220021043 ~Greta
  22. I wish I were on the other side of the pond! I would definitely go to that.
  23. Is anyone planning on going to the upcoming Horn Concerto concert in Houston? I'm definitely planning to go but trying to decide what day. I for sure won't be able to make it up to Dallas..
  24. Oh, wow. That's the kind of narrow minded, pretentious stereotype I'd like to believe isn't prevalent. I'm sorry to hear it. To be clear, my experience is that of a state school music program. It is, I feel, made up of many brilliant musicians and teachers, but it doesn't have the endowments of a prestigious conservatory. The composition program here is a little nebulous. Last semester we wrote brass quintets and string quartets, this semester we're writing percussion quartets and wind quartets, and it's anyone's guess what's coming next. I like that. We've also had a variety of guest composers speak at the school this semester; everyone from polyrhythmic musician-philosophers far removed from the Western tradition to unabashedly tonal composers. This was set up specifically to expose students to many different perspectives, which I feel is so important. Despite having not been pushed toward one style or the other, I've found my interests naturally expanding. I'm getting interested in tone rows and using them in both serial and tonal contexts. I know I'll be looking for the same openmindedness when I apply to grad schools in two or three years. Wow...fascinating posts guys. As an aficionado of the wind band and its literature, I find this quite an interesting discussion. It cannot be denied that there are some guys making serious livings and names for themselves writing good creative tonal music for middle, high school and college bands - such as Ticheli, Eric Whitacre, and John Mackey. In Texas where bands are a super big deal they are definitely famous even! I think what they are doing is really important to get kids "hooked" on music for the future. There is certainly still a BIG place in this world for tonal music, look at the success composers such as Jennifer Higdon and Michael Daugherty have had...Michael Torke, Richard Danielpour are two other excellent ones...they write music that readily shows its influences but it is so well-written and relatable to audiences that it is very worthwhile to listen to. Even John Adams, so hugely successful, as well is largely tonal. What I defintiely do not understand is the double standard with much new tonal music criticized for being plagiaristic (Oh that just sounds like a mishmosh of *insert composer and composer here*) while much atonal new music is lauded for being so "fresh" and "innovative" - while usually it is also ripping off Boulez, Webern, Berio to some degree... This is a subject I could go on about, but certainly some American university composition schools do not have their heads on straight about the issue of tonal vs. atonal new music. Good on you Jeremy for the commission, there is always a need for good new wind music. It is a shame the comp faculty could not let you express yourself in the way you wished for your thesis...but such is academia.. I am not a comp student myself, but love studying and performing new music. I was encouraged to do further study in wind conducting but am going to go the administrative route..band directing didn't seem quite the right fit for me. Hopefully someday I can do my part to advocate for more new music in the concert hall...in our area it is still far too rare! As for schools...Univ. of Texas is a hotbed for wind music...my college band director did his Doctorate and Masters there with Jerry Junkin...he is the big poobah there who is much to credit for creating a veritable greenhouse in Austin for wind music. Besides the affliation with Grantham, they have had John Corigliano down for several of his recent wind works and they regularly premiere great new pieces. Besides composers, they are also turning out good young conductors in the band and orchestra world as well. I would not recommend it as much for undergrad based on some of my friends reporting feeling lost in the sheer number of people, for grad school music it is highly rated. University of North Texas is also an excellent music school for grad work (near Dallas), real conservatory type atmosphere with some very fine faculty.
  25. Another heads up on a new CD featuring some JW.... http://www.amazon.com/Texas-Horns/dp/B001CLHW1Q Description: The twelve horns of the Dallas and Houston Symphony Orchestras in thrilling recordings of works written or arranged specifically for them and presented in world premiere recordings. The principal horns of the orchestras are Gregory Hustis and William VerMeulen, both of whom have incredible reputations as solo and symphonic players. All the players are superb and this recording is truly unique in its presentation of wonderful horn players playing superb new works for horn ensemble. Pulitzer Prize-nominated James A. Beckel and well-known hornist/composer Kerry Turner wrote the two major original works, both on the theme of the American West. Both pieces are for 12 horns and percussion. Hooked on Williams is a delightful medley from John Williams movie score to Hook, by Anthony DiLorenzo. Roger Kaza's transcription of Barber's Adagio for Strings is particularly beautiful in the horn setting, as is Sterling Procter's version of the traditional Amazing Grace. Wouldn't mind hearing this! Or maybe our resident horn student joey225 has?
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